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Concrete can be made with plant fibers such as hemp in place of aggregates.

Greener Concrete Through Low-Tech and Hi-Tech Methods

Concrete is one of the most widely used construction materials worldwide. It’s essential for countless infrastructure projects, from buildings to bridges to streets.

Its manufacture is also a huge source of CO2 emissions — about 5 per cent of the total emissions worldwide — and requires large-scale mining operations to obtain the raw materials. Typically, concrete is made of Portland cement, water, and aggregates. Changes to the common mixture offer the potential to reduce the amount of cement and aggregate needed, and to offset the production of CO2.

Bio-crete and hempcrete

Bio-crete and hempcrete are both similar to traditional concrete, but replace the aggregates with plant fibre such as hemp fibre or rice husks, and use lime in place of Portland cement. The resulting material lacks concrete’s compressive strength and so requires structural framing.